(Updated: )
/ #javascript #fetch 

Pass cookies with axios or fetch requests

When sending requests from client-side JavaScript, by default cookies are not passed.

By default, fetch won’t send or receive any cookies from the server, resulting in unauthenticated requests https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Fetch_API/Using_Fetch

Two JavaScript HTTP clients I use are axios, a “Promise based HTTP client for the browser and Node.js” and the fetch API (see Fetch API on MDN).

Table of Contents

Pass cookies with requests in axios

In axios, to enable passing of cookies, we use the withCredentials: true option.

Which means we can create a new axios instance with withCredentials enabled:

const transport = axios.create({
  withCredentials: true
})

transport
  .get('/cookie-auth-protected-route')
  .then(res => res.data)
  .catch(err => { /* not hit since no 401 */ })

It’s also possible to set it in the request options:

axios
  .get(
    '/cookie-auth-protected-route',
    { withCredentials: true }
  )
  .then(res => res.data)
  .catch(err => { /* not hit since no 401 */ })

Or override the global defaults:

axios.defaults.withCredentials = true

Pass cookies with requests using fetch

The equivalent with fetch is to set the credentials: 'include' or credentials: 'same-origin' option when sending the request:

fetch(
  '/cookie-auth-protected-route',
  { credentials: 'include' } // could also try 'same-origin'
).then(res => {
  if (res.ok) return res.json()
  // not hit since no 401
)
Author

Hugo Di Francesco

Co-author of "Professional JavaScript", "Front-End Development Projects with Vue.js" with Packt, "The Jest Handbook" (self-published). Hugo runs the Code with Hugo website helping over 100,000 developers every month and holds an MEng in Mathematical Computation from University College London (UCL). He has used JavaScript extensively to create scalable and performant platforms at companies such as Canon, Elsevier and (currently) Eurostar.

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